A printer that records information such as characters or images on a sheet-like recording medium such as a paper sheet or film is widely used as an information output apparatus for word processors, personal computers, facsimile machines, and the like.
Various methods are known as recording methods for printers. An inkjet printing method can realize non-contact printing on a recording medium such as paper. This method has been attracting attention recently because it easily prints in color, and is quiet. As the configuration for an inkjet printing method, a serial recording system is well known that performs recording while reciprocally scanning a carriage mounted with a recording head that discharges ink in response to recording information in a direction intersecting the transport direction of a recording medium such as a paper sheet. In general, the serial recording system is widely used for reasons including low cost and easy downsizing.
In the serial recording system, recording is carried out by scanning a carriage mounted with a recording head over a recording medium. Therefore, in a recording apparatus (printing apparatus) according to the serial recording system, a recording area in the scanning direction of the recording head is divided into a plurality of areas, and the apparatus has a buffer that stores recording data in units for the divided areas.
In this type of recording apparatus, when storing recording data in units for divided areas in a buffer, the apparatus compares information that changes the storage area of recording data for each color with the remaining amount of buffer available for storage and a write address update amount. The recording apparatus includes a writing control section that controls write address information of recording data of unit areas for each color based on the comparison result (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-305896).
The recording apparatus further comprises a reading control section that controls, for each color, reading address information for reading recording data that was stored in the buffer, and record data generating means that generates recording data of the divided area units in accordance with the recording data that was read based on the reading address information.
For recording data to be transferred from a host computer to a conventional recording apparatus configured in this manner, the host computer (printer driver) performs adjustment (registration adjustment) of positions in the scanning direction (raster direction) (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-305895).
In a recording head configured with a short recording element array (i.e. the number of recording elements constituting a single recording element array is small), a deviation width caused by an installation error (inclination with respect to a reference angle) that is produced when installing (attaching) the recording head falls within one pixel at most, and it is thus possible to ignore the influence thereof on a recording image. Therefore, it is not necessary to perform a correction or the like in relation to an installation error for this kind of recording head.